Gas-engine



(No Model.)

` W. L. TOBEY.

GASBNGINE.

No. 306,443. Patented 004. 14, 1884.

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GAS-'ENGINE SPEGEFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 306,443,dated October 1li-,1884.

Application filed March 14, 1884. (No model.)

To cir/ZZ whom, t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM L. Toner, of East Boston, county of Suffolk,and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Gas-Engines,of which the following description, in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representinglike parts.

My invention relates Ato a gas-engine in which the piston is actuated bythe explosion of a mixture of gas and air. In engines of this class asheretofore made the mixture of gas and air has usually been compressedin the cylinder before being exploded, and in some eases it is alsosomewhat compressed before entering the cylinder by a compressor orforce-pump actuated by the engine.

The invention consists, mainly, in the valve mechanism by which theactuating-mixture is safely transferred from the tank to theenginecylinder, it being admitted alternately at opposite ends of thesaid cylinder, so that the engine is double-acting, the piston beingactuated by the fluid-pressure in both directions.

Figure l is a side elevation of a gasengine embodying this invention ,zand Fig. 2 is a horizontal section thereof on line x as, Fig. l, theframe-work and crank-shaft being shown in plan view.

rlhe cylinder (t, piston b therein, with the piston-rod Il',connecting-rod c, and crankshaft cl, may all be substantially the sameas in any well-known double-acting reciprocating engine. The saidcrankshaft d is provided with a crank or eccentric, c, having asuitablestrap and rod for actuating a compressor or force-pump, j', of anysuitable or usual construction, having a piston or plunger, f', by whichthe mixture of air and gas is forced through the pipes g into the tankor reservoir h., which is shown in this instance as made in the bed orframe-work of the engine. The tank will always be kept full of thegaseous mixture, and will remain full when the engine ceases to operate,so that there will be a supply ol" compressed gaseous mixture ready forstarting the engine, which will not have to be run by hand or otherextraneous power for a short time instarting, as is usual ingas-engines. The gaseous mixture thus compressed in the tank h isconveyed therefrom through a supply-pipe, t, and avalve, 7s, controlledby an automatic governor, m, in any usual manner, to two branch pipes, nn, leading to a doublevalve chest, 0 o', shown as cylindrical in form,and having ports p p, leading to opposite ends of the cylinder ci. Thevalve-chest o o contains a series of piston-valves, r -rt t', fixed upona common actuating-rod, a, moved by an eccentric, a, on the main shaft dof the engine in the usual manner. The pair of pistons, as r yr',working in one portion of the valve chest, inclose a space between themshorter than the distance between the inletport a2 to the saidvalve-chest and the port p, leading to the engine-cylinder, and as thesaid pistons continue to move in the direction of the arrow 2, Fig. 2,they will uncover the port n?, placing the space or chamber formedbetween them in connection with the pipe a and tank or reservoir for thecompressed mixture, so that the said space or chamber will receive acharge of the compressed mixture from the said tank. rlhe same movementof the four connected pistons r 'rt t that placed the valvechest o incommunication with the tank also caused the port p to be uncovered bythe piston fr, thus placing` the engine-cylinder in communication withthe portion of the valvechest on the side opposite to the piston r fromwhich the exhaust-passage o leads, thus permitting the contents of theengine-cylinder a to exhaust through theport p and passage o2. At thesame time, also, the piston t is moved beyond the port p, so that thespace or chamber between the pistons tt is brought into communication,through the port p', with the end of the engine-cylinder, thuspermitting the charge which had been previously supplied through thepipe aand port ai to the said chamber to enter the cylinder, where it isexploded, and actuatesthe piston in the usual manner. Vhile the pistonZ1 is at or near the other end of the cylinder the valve-pistons move inthe direction opposite tothe arrow 2, conveying the charge previouslyreceived between the pistons r r to the port p at the adjacent eud ofthe engine-cylinder, while the contents of the cylinder at the otherside of the piston is exhausted through the port p and exhaust-passageo3, and a new charge received between the pistons t t.

The quantity of explosive mixture received.

IOO

in the valve-chamber between the valve-pistons, and the consequentactuating-power of the engine, is varied and controlled by thegovernor-valve k; and it will be seen that the space in thevvalve-chesto o between the pairs 0f pistons o o" and t t constitutes anintermediate chamber between the said tank and cylinder, which chamberis placed alternately in communication with the tank or reservoir forthe explosive mixture and with the cylinder, but never with both at thesame time, communication being wholly cut off with the tank before it isestablished with the cylinder, and

the reverse, so that there is never any communication between the tankand the cylinder, and it is consequently impossible to accidentallyexplode the contents of the tank.

I claim- 1. The engine-cylinder and valve-chest, and inlet and exhaustport-s leading to and from the said valve-chest, and ports connecting itwith the ends of the cylinder, combined with the valves arranged insaidvalve-chest with relation to said ports as shown and described, andvalve-actuating mechanism whereby communication is alternatelyestablished and cut otl' between the inlet-port and portions ofthe saidvalve-chest adjacent to each end of the cylinder, and one end of thecylinder is connected with the exhaust-port while communication isestablished-between the adjacent portion of the valve-chest and theinlet-port, and also between the other end ofthe cylinder and theportion ofthe valve-chest adjacent there- 't0, which is then cut offfrom the inlet-port,

substantially as set forth.

2. In a gas-engine, the engine-cylinder, and a tank or reservoir for anexplosive gaseous mixture, and an intermediate chamber and Valvemechanism, whereby the said chamber is alternately placed incommunication with the said tank and cylinder without at any timeestablishing direct communication between the said tank and cylinder,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

TILLIAM L. TOBEY.

Vitnesses:

Jos. l?. LrvnnMonn, XV. H. SIGsToN.

